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Thursday, October 27, 2011

Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've been working with seasonal desserts this week. I was especially interested in those that can be made ahead of time and frozen. My focus has been on pumpkin and apple cheesecakes. The holidays are coming, and with them come a stream of visitors who need to be entertained in a gracious, yet easy, manner. I try to keep things simple and the freezer helps me do that. The cheesecakes fall into a dessert category that I use for unexpected guests. I like to bake them, cut them into bars or squares and then freeze them to use when needed. They defrost quickly and are wonderful to serve with coffee or tea. I must quickly add that I don't serve cheesecake at the end of a meal. I think they are way too rich for that, but they're perfect to serve as stand alone offerings. This is the easiest of the recipes I've been experimenting with. I really think you'll like it. The ingredient list may look a bit long, but that's because of the number of spices that are used to flavor the cake. I'll reveal the other recipes next week. Here's the recipe for today's cheesecake.

Directions:1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Coat a 9 x 13 x 2-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.2) Combine crust ingredients. Remove 1/2 cup of mixture and set aside. Firmly press remainder of crumbs onto bottom of prepared pan. Cover pan with plastic wrap and chill for at least an hour.3) Combine cream cheese and sugar in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in canned pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, mace, nutmeg, cloves, salt, vanilla and orange zest. Add eggs and heavy cream and beat on low speed until just combined. Pour filling over crust.4) Bake for 35-45 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour; then cover and chill for at least 8 hours. I chill them overnight. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs just before cutting cake into squares. Yield: 20 servings.

Mary,Thank you for stopping by my blog, and your sweet words. I certainly like your idea of freezing the cheesecakes for later use. Your Pumpkin Cheesecake is a perfect dessert, especially for the holidays.

I've been dreaming about pumpkin cheesecake. These look fabulous. The husband isn't really interested in pumpkin cheesecake. Maybe I can warm him up to the idea with these squares as opposed to a whole cheesecake. Thanks for sharing.

I love pumpkin cheesecake! These squares look fantastic and I love that you can freeze them and that they defrost quickly, the perfect treat for guests, as you said. Thank you for sharing, have a wonderful day!

Those pumpking cheesecake squares look heavenly!! I must try them soon.I would like to thank you for coming by to my blog and visiting around it...i really appreciate it a lot coming from a blogger who has a high volume of visits and many many followers...i really really appreciate it. thanks for your nice comment and i hope you find something you like to make from my blog and i am sure the recipe will work out for you. Thanks!

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